Cattle Bulls Fight off Early Weakness to Close Higher
Live cattle futures rounded out Monday trade with gains, as contracts were 12 to 55 cents higher at the close despite some early pressure. Cash trade was light last week with $245 northern action reported, steady to $2 lower wk/wk. The South was listed at $235, steady.
Feeder cattle futures failed to use the expanded limits on Monday, but had back and forth trade with futures closing 20 to 85 cents higher. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another $3.87 to $341.04 on August 8. The Monday OKC feeder cattle auction had an estimated 5,600 head for sale, with action noted $8 to 12 higher for steers and heavies down $3, with heifers $3-8 higher. Calves were $4 on either side of unchanged.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Monday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $21.91. Choice boxes were up $2.68 at $381.52, while Select was $4.52 higher to $359.61. USDA estimated cattle slaughter for Monday was 103,000 head. That was up just 2,000 head from last week but 7,721 head lower vs. the same week in 2024.
Aug 25 Live Cattle closed at $233.075, up $0.525,
Oct 25 Live Cattle closed at $226.100, up $0.125,
Dec 25 Live Cattle closed at $228.475, up $0.550,
Aug 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $340.225, up $0.825,
Sep 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $340.600, up $0.225,
Oct 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $339.675, up $0.450,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.